Telcos set to dominate cloud market over next two years: analyst

Telecommunications companies are predicted to be the next major players in the world cloud computing market with SaaS ticking all the right boxes for telco CIOs.

Ovum market analyst Peter Hall and report author of The cloud computing strategies of global telcos said cloud user growth by telcos is set to rapidly increase over the next few years.

“We expect to see interest pick up quite rapidly over the next two to three years, so the time is right for many telcos to be developing a strategy and roadmap for their entry to the market,” he said.

Hall sees the move a logical one for telcos currently using data centres for storage.

“The major telcos have a long heritage in providing managed data center services and hosting and have combined this with their networking and security expertise to meet the needs of customers for cloud computing services,” he said.

The report is based on a worldwide review of some 150 enterprises with more than 1000 employees and includes contributions from Orange Business Services, AT&T and Verizon Business.

Hall said each enterprise surveyed saw a clear line between cloud computing and the achievement of core competencies.

“All of the players reviewed in the report see cloud computing as leveraging their core competencies and Orange has coined the term ‘IT operator’ to reflect its new role in IT services by analogy with its traditional role as a network operator,” he said.

Hall advised CIOs not to panic if they don’t yet have a cloud computing strategy.

“It’s still early days and telcos that have not yet developed a cloud computing strategy should not feel that they have missed the boat as the market is still embryonic and many end users are still cautious about cloud computing,” he said.

The news comes as director of Sydney-based document solutions company Law In Order recently advised companies against moving to a public cloud until more security concerns are addressed.

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